February 2nd, 2011

This season and the last have definitely put it all in perspective. I am on the road to recovery for my second compartment syndrome surgery in back to back seasons. It has been a long and frustrating couple of weeks but I have had a lot of help and support through it all. It is not necessarily the surgery that was so disappointing but more of letting go of the work that has been done leading up to it. You train so many hours for a short season and never get a shot at racing. But I think the best thing to do is take it one day at a time. Something we all can maybe be better at…. There are far bigger things in the world, and just getting the opportunity to sit back and think about life and where your puzzle piece fits is as important as placing it sometimes.

On another note, I am so grateful for my entire team. Each and every individual has in some way or another made this whole situation smoother than anticipated. I am looking forward to getting back on the trails with the team but for now I will just be taking the role of ultimate fan. This weekend I got out to watch the bobcats rage a team trial. Luke Bromley skied his way to the top spot for the men, and Ase Carlson continued her consistent season with a win for the women. All in all, the cats are fired up for New Mexico and ready to throw down some top results.

-Bernie Nelson

Here are some photos from the MSU invitational and other places…

Cheering freshman Kate Backstrum at Bohart

Ase Carlson races to a top ten finish at Bohart

Luke Bromley gives his best Bobcat Growl

Mackenzie Jones in Soldier Hollow

Papa Bobcat

For all the ladies...

Comments are off for this post

January 13th, 2011

The whole team is back in Bozeman preparing for our home race this weekend.The seven athletes that traveled to nationals are glad to be back skiing on the 25k of snow covered trails at Bohart Ranch. We had some great results at nationals including a win by Ryan Scott in the U23 skate sprint, a 6th place by Jessica Yeaton in the junior women’s 5k skate and a win in the U23 classic sprint by Ase Carlson.
This weekend we are hosting the first RMISA race of the season. On saturday the men will start it off with a 10k skate at 9 am followed by the women’s 5k at 11 am. Sunday’s races will begin at 9:30 am with the women’s 15k mass start classic and conclude with the men’s 20k classic at 11 am. The course is in great shape are we are looking forward to a great showing at our home race. Look for results and pictures of the race here this weekend.

January 10th, 2011

The first weekend back for Christmas break had many of the Alaskan crew from the MSU Nordic team racing in the first two Besh cups, held in Chugiak and Anchorage. Many of the Bobcats had decent races and placed well against the other collegiate racers. It is highly recommended to never use your warm-up skis in a classic race. Especially when your race skis have been waxed very nicely, let’s just say I won’t be making that mistake again any time soon.

After Christmas while many were prepping themselves for Nationals, I headed 90 minutes North of Anchorage to Hatcher Pass with fellow collegiate skier Cole Talbot (UVM), his brother Silas (2011-2012 Dartmouth freshman), and friend Dakota to complete an Avalanche safety course. Hatacher Pass is the destination for many Nordic skiers in Alaska for early on-snow training. This was my first trip to Hatcher Pass in January. Mother Nature graced us with three days of nice weather and relatively warm temps. The first two days of the course focused on rescue techniques and snow stability. Our last day of the course focused on terrain, we got the opportunity to use our knowledge from the two previous days to pick a safe peak to hike up and ski down. During my avalanche course many of my fellow MSU teammates headed to Rumford Maine to Senior Nationals.

I spent a relaxing New Year’s at my cabin with my parents, fellow MSUer Heidi Rogers, and family friend Laura Gardner. We went on several nice long skis to welcome in the New Year.

~By: Rachelle Kanady

10km Women’s Start

Freshman Jessica Yeaton leading a group in Besh Cup #2

Freshman Megan Baker

Hatcher’s Pass: Independence Mine

Saddle of Micodot: Our instructors

New Year’s Ski: (L-R: Heidi, Me, Mom, Laura, Trooper-dog)

Alaskan Sunset

Comments are off for this post

December 28th, 2010

Winter break seems to be flying by, but luckily here in Colorado the sun has been shining and the snow has been great. The Bobcats split up for break after acing their finals in school and headed home to California, Washington, Alaska, Wyoming, Austria, Idaho and Colorado.

Back in Boulder, Ryan and I have been training up at good ol’ Eldora and hooked up with Miles and Ian Havlick (Utah Ski Team) for some intervals the other day. Until today, Eldora has been surprisingly nice without the usual blowing winds.

Some of us will be heading off to Nationals later this week in Maine, for a hard week of racing before the collegiate season begins. We are continuing to build our large fan-base at home on campus, and are anticipating a fierce crowd at the opening NCAA race in Bozeman, Montana on Jan. 15th/16th.

We’ll hopefully check in later next week with some sweet pics and video from Maine.

-Drew Scott

Movember!

Tearin' it up at Eldora

Sprint race at Vail NRL (photo credit: Drew Geer)

Bobcats 1 CU 0

Andrew Kastning and Calisa Schouweiler-Kastning styling their new sweaters

Comments are off for this post

December 13th, 2010

Last weekend at our annual Bobcat Christmas Pole we were fortunate enough to have some of our alpine team join us in the race. In return for us getting to watch them make complete and total fools of themselves we agreed to do some gate chasing with them later in the season. Being a little insecure of our alpine abilities and not wanting to get laughed at too hard by our other half, we decided to do a little Nordic gate chasing of our own in preparation for the big showdown.

Here are some photos of our downhill practice at Bohart Ranch.

Comments are off for this post

December 11th, 2010

The following link heads to a video that was shot on location in the MSU Human Performance Laboratory run by Dr. Dan Heil. This state of the art facility is a great way to safely test the limits of Bobcat skiers! But is there a limit?

November 26th, 2010

The Bobcats arrived to West Yellowstone on Saturday afternoon after a long and grueling eighty-mile drive to see that West Yellowstone had already transformed into a winter oasis. The snow was pounding for the first few days and was only interrupted by freezing conditions on Wednesday, with temps dropping down to -24F with windchill! The skiing has been solid and provided the team with an opportunity to get in needed hours working on technique and preparing for the first races of the season. A few of the Cats battled it out in the Sprint Showdown, but most of the skiers are preparing to throw-down for both distance races on Friday and Saturday.

November 18th, 2010

Once upon a time, there was a team whose carhartt jackets were made for ranch hands, whose vans broke down in a small city in Colorado on Ash Wednesday when the only repair shop was closed, whose team consisted of 5 women and hopefully 5 men, and whose idea of an after race snack was raw spinach. This very team has expanded to thirty at large and more men than we can legally keep. We have truly transformed into a competitive and intertwined bunch of nordies who have a hunger for speed and an unmatchable modesty. Here are some photos that show our world:)